Much Ado About Nana(17 Mar. 1993)

On Tool Time: Tim and Al are building a deck. Surprisingly, there is NO catastrophe! At home: Tim's mother-in-law comes for a visit from Texas. To everyone's surprise, she is no longer ... See full summary »

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On Tool Time: Tim and Al are building a deck. Surprisingly, there is NO catastrophe! At home: Tim's mother-in-law comes for a visit from Texas. To everyone's surprise, she is no longer super-fat; in fact, she is slim. Since Jill's parents are moving to a new condo, her mother has decided to give some items to her daughters. Jill wishes for their antique wooden clock, but her mother has chosen a tea set for her. Jill is unable to tell her mother about how she feels about the clock, and Tim fails to understand what's the problem. Written by
Toni Tapola, Finland

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Today on Tool Time, Tim and Al are building a deck. Or rather, Al is building while Tim sits around and looks pretty. After yet another weight joke about his mother in-law, he announces that there will be no more Nana jokes next week, because he says they're beneath him, but the reason is because she's coming to town. But until then "it's open season on that wildebeest." Tim trash talks his mother in-law some more, then accidentally flips a can of sealant in the air, which thankfully Al caught just in time, so there will be no accidents in today's show. That's got to be a record. At home, Jill has launched into OCD mode, cleaning the house top to bottom in anticipation for her overbearing mother's visit. Nana arrives sooner than expected, and to everyone's extreme shock, she's skinny! Apparently thanks to Tim's countless weight jokes about her, she went on a diet. But how did they get Tool Time in Texas? Bought a satellite dish, of course. Nana tells her neighbors that Al is her son in-law. Right away, Nana lets it slip that she thinks Jill has no gumption or drive, and then she shares an embarrassing story about Jill's first date. Tim and the boys have a nice laugh at her expense. Then, Nana goes outside to bring in the gifts she brought, including something special for Jill from the house, as she and Dad were moving and they wanted to pass along some memorabilia to the girls. Jill hopes it's the antique clock from the den, because she knew that wherever her family moved to, as long as she heard that clock, she knew she was home.

Nana brings in the box of heirlooms, but instead of the clock, she gives Jill an old tea set. Now, why did she bring the whole box in the house with the clock on top if she was going to give Jill the tea set? Secretly Jill is upset at the gift, and she can't tell her mother because she comes from a screwed up family that can't share their feelings with one another. Then she goes on a rant about how her mother considered her health and lost all that weight, and she yells at Tim for no reason. He talks with Wilson about the situation, and he basically says it's much harder for a woman to admit her true feelings to her mother. Tim suggests sitting the two down and having them talk it out, but Wilson advises him to stay out of it. Unfortunately, Nana corners him in the garage, thinking Jill's poor attitude is attributed to her and Tim's sex life. However, Tim quickly corrects her and let's it slip about Jill and the clock, and how she can't be open about her feelings to her own mother. The next day was Mark's birthday party. He's the big 0-8. It's NASCAR theme with Tim and the kids racing cars, finally giving Jill and Nana some alone time to make their feelings known. Basically, it was hard being a military family always on the move, things were forgotten. However, one fond memory Nana has of her time with Jill were their tea parties, hence the reason she gave her the tea set. Jill wonders why she has so many sisters, and I agree. Why do these families have to have so many kids? Are they Catholic? Anyway, to wrap it all up, Tim attempts to cheat his way to victory by putting a dust-buster motor in his car. He has himself a shattering victory.

Two things I'd like to address first: 1) That WAS Judy the elf from The Santa Clause as Tim's competition towards the end. 2) They really overdid the gag of Tim saying "I have no opinion." Over and over and over again. I have no opinion, I have no opinion. Well *I* have an opinion: it's not goddamn funny! Anyway, this marks Polly Holiday's first appearance as Lillian Patterson, and the last appearance of Tim's Nana jokes on Tool Time. From hereon out, all fat jokes will be directed at Al's mother, but unlike Nana, we never got to see her. Anyway, if you can relate to Jill and have an overbearing, emotionally unavailable mother, then check out Much Ado About Nana. It also sheds some light on how Jill came to be that kind of person herself.

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